Methods of manufacturing welted shoes

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing welted footwear in which a shaped board is temporarily secured to one side of a flexible insole prior to the securing of a lasted upper to the insole, the flexible insole being formed with extended marginal portions which in the finished article of footwear extend up the sides of the upper so as to cradle the foot.

United States Patent 1 1 Tusaet all. 1 June 5, 1973 [54] METHODS OFMANUFACTURING [56] References Cited WELTED SHOES UNITED STATES PATENTS[75] Inventors: John Tusa, Horndon-on-the-Hill;

Leslie Charles Lawrence, Stanford 377,416 2/1888 Whitney ..36/43 pStanley Norman Plamp 2,084,874 6/1937 Sutchffe ....l2/142 D 2,275,5743/1942 Vlzard ..36/17 R EastTlbury and England 2,537,156 1/1951 Pennell..36/43 73 i The i i h B Sh Company 3,462,783 8/l969 Glickman ..l2/142 DLimited, London, England P'rimary ExaminerAlfred R. Guest [22] Filed:Oct. 18, 1971 Atmmey Ho1man & Stem [211 Appl. No.: 190,420

' [57] ABSTRACT Related US. Application Data A method of manufacturmgwelted footwear 1n which Division 26320, April 7, 1970, abana shapedboard is temporarily secured to one side ofa donedflexible insole priorto the securing of a lasted upper t0 the insole, the flexible insolebeing formed with ex- [30] Foreign Application priority Data tendedmarginal portions which in the finished article of footwear extend upthe sides of the upper so as to May 14, Great Britain cradle the foot 52U.S. c1. ..12/142 D, 36/17 R 3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure [51] Int. Cl...A43b 9/00 [58] Field of-Search ..36/l7 R, 43; 12/142 D p 10a 70a 16l\\\\\ 17 s- 1". 3 I r y W 9/ METHODS OF MANUFACTURING WELTED SHOES Thisapplication is a division of our co-pending appli- I cation Ser. No.26,320 filed Apr. 7, 1970, now abancloned.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of welted footwear.

The invention is based on the appreciation that whereas it is desirablefor footwear to have a very flexible insole such an insole, which is thefoundation of the article, must be robust enough to withstand the heavylasting strains of the upper when using mechanical lasting machines.Thus during lasting the insole must be substantially rigid, butafterwards, when the shaperetention stresses have been set into theleather, a rigid insole is no longer necessary or even desirable.

In accordance with the present invention, a method of manufacturing awelted article of footwear comprises the steps of attaching asole-shaped board to one side of a flexible insole formed with anextended marginal portion so that the insole projects laterally beyondthe board, securing an elongated projection on the other side of saidinsole to follow the contour of the edge of the insole but spacedinwardly therefrom, securing the projection to the inwardly pulledmargin of a lasted upper and to the inner margin of a welt, and applyingan outsole to the lasted upper-insole-welt, the sole-shaped board beingdetached from the insole subsequently to the securing of the projectionto the upper and removed from the interior of the article.

Preferably, a resilient filler of sponge material is provided in a spacesurrounded by the projection and enclosed by the outsole and the insole.

An upper may be provided in the lining which extends between thelaterally projecting portion of the in-' sole and the inwardly pulledmargin of the upper. Preferably, the margin of the lining is securedbetween the projection on the insole and the inner margin of the welt.

The invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription of a method of manufacturing a shoe given by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a cross-sectionthrough a shoe during one stage of the manufacture of the shoe.

Referring to the drawing, the shoe is manufactured by securing aflexible insole of light soft leather to a stiff sole-shaped board 11 bymeans of staples 12, the insole 10 having an extended marginal portion10a which projects laterally beyond the periphery of the board 11.

A projection in the form of a T-section rib member i4 is then secured byadhesive to the lower side of the insole 10 to extend around themarginal portion of the insole and spaced inwardly of the edge thereof.The edge of the stiff board 11 may be used as a guide for a machine forapplying the rib member 14.

A shoe upper 16 is then fitted over a last (not shown) and its margin 17is pulled over the boundary of the bottom of the last. The board-insoleunit l0, 11 is placed on the bottom of the last and the projectingportion 10a of the insole 10 is bent so that it is located within theinterior of the shoe upper 16. For conve' nience of description the shoeparts are described as in the shoe when worn, with the upper above andthe sole below, though it will be appreciated that on the last the shoeis upside-down.

The margin 20 of a welt 19 is then applied to the margin 17 of the upperby bending the margin downwardly to lie against the margin of the upperand by stitching. The operation of applying the welt 19 is preferablydone by a stitching machine, which feeds in the welt and stitchestogether the inner margin 20 of the welt 19, the margin 17 of the upper16, a lining 22 in the upper 16 and the rib member 14. The stitches areindicated in the drawing by reference numeral 23.

The rib member 14 is made from rubber or a rubberlike material, and issufficiently flexible to distort somewhat, without becoming detachedfrom the insole 10, when the shoe is worn and to adapt to the pressuresexerted on the walls of the upper and insole of the shoe by the wearersfoot.

The sole-shaped board 11 and the staples 12 are next removed, and aresilient filling of sponge rubber 24 is then provided below the insole10 in the space enclosed by the rib member 14. The filling extends overthe forepart of the shoe so as to serve as a comfortable support to thefoot and an auxiliary foundation for the shoe when worn.

An outsole (25) is then applied to the welt and is secured thereto bylock-stitching.

A heel (not shown) is secured to the rear of the sole and the shoe isthen removed from the last.

One advantage of the above-described method is that by extending theflexible insole 10 beyond the periphery of the last so that it curvesupwardly as shown along the wall of the upper 16, the shape of the shoeis substantially maintained in useanda cradling effect on the foot iscreated, similar to that given by a genuine moccasin.

We claim:

l. A method of manufacturing a welted article of footwear comprising thesteps of attaching a soleshaped board to one side of a flexible insoleformed with an extended marginal portion so that the insole projectslaterally beyond the board, securing an elongated projection on theother side of said insole to follow the contour of the edge of theinsole but spaced inwardly therefrom, securing the projection to theinwardly pulled margin of a lasted upper and to the inner margin of awelt, and applying an outsole to the lasted upper-insole-welt unit, thesole-shaped board being detached from the insole subsequently to thesecuring of the projection to the upper and removed from the interior ofthe article.

2. A method of manufacturing a welted article of footwear comprising thesteps of temporarily attaching a stiff sole-shaped support board to oneside of a soft flexible insole formed with an extended marginal portionso that the insole projects laterally beyond the board, securing anelongated flexible projection on the other side of the insole by meansof an adhesive to fol low the contour of the edge of the insole butspaced inwardly therefrom, stitching the projection to the in- I wardlypulled margin ofa lasted upper and to the inner margin of a welt,positioning a resilient filler layer in the space bounded by theprojection, applying an outsole to the lasted upper-in'sole-welt unit,and detaching the sole shaped board from the insole and removing it fromthe interior of the article.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the edge of the support boardis used as to guide the application of the projection to the insole.

* i i l I

1. A method of manufacturing a welted article of footwear comprising thesteps of attaching a sole-shaped board to one side of a flexible insoleformed with an extended marginal portion so that the insole projectslaterally beyond the board, securing an elongated projection on theother side of said insole to follow the contour of the edge of theinsole but spaced inwardly therefrom, securing the projection to theinwardly pulled margin of a lasted upper and to the inner margin of awelt, and applying an outsole to the lasted upper-insole-welt unit, thesole-shaped board being detached from the insole subsequently to thesecuring of the projection to the upper and removed from the interior ofthe article.
 2. A method of manufacturing a welted article of footwearcomprising the steps of temporarily attaching a stiff sole-shapedsupport board to one side of a soft flexible insole formed with anextended marginal portion so that the insole projects laterally beyondthe board, securing an elongated flexible projection on the other sideof the insole by means of an adhesive to follow the contour of the edgeof the insole but spaced inwardly therefrom, stitching the projection tothe inwardly pulled margin of a lasted upper and to the inner margin ofa welt, positioning a resilient filler layer in the space bounded by theprojection, applying an outsole to the lasted upper-insole-welt unit,and detaching the sole shaped board from the insole and removing it fromthe interior of the article.
 3. A method according to claim 2, whereinthe edge of the support board is used as to guide the application of theprojection to the insole.